Finally took my Cayman first test drive today. I waited to do this until I was in the position (financially) where I can buy the car immediately if I want it. So, I just have to make a decision and if so walk to the dealer Monday and order it!

Warning, big write-up ahead.


I want the S but unfortunately the CS demo car was used on a Porsche customer day (which I missed by only a day, bummer!) and the tires were shot, impossible to test-drive. Anyway the dealer offered me a regular Cayman which I could take on my own for about an hour, cool!

This could tell me what I needed to know about the car minus the power and bigger brakes, not ideal but good enough. The car I drove had PASM, Sport Chrono, Sports Seats, and Sport steering wheel, great 'cause they are all options I want for my own car. It was also on S 18" wheels. Pick it up and off I went...

Driving position is very good, you have a view of the left bonnet/fender bulge which is nice and also the view of the sensual rear haunches from the mirrors. Pedal placement is good but slightly offset to the right (LHD car here), just nit picking because it's very minute, but they are not spot-on as I've read sometimes. Interior is a great place to be, everything looks solid and well designed (let's forget the stalks that are cheap looking). Sports seats feel great and very supportive. Steering wheel doesn't feel big like I've read sometimes. Well, I guess it must feel big if compared to the dinky Lotus one but that's relative. Loved the feel of it.

I devised a trip that included a bit of everything, the initial traffic stop-go then off to a variety of roads with great sets of fast to medium sweepers, exits at a lot of roundabouts and some twisties to get a feel for everything the chassis as to tell.

Handling is awesome... I've read sometimes that the car feels like a fat pig compared to the likes of the Lotus Elise (also was on my cards). Not so. It's very agile, steering feels communicative, and you can really steer it on the throttle, very "tossable" and allows for precision driving which I prefer (not a fan of drifting or huge powerslides). The only time it felt a little bit heavier and less composed was on a very testing zig-zag angular right left twist, just a touch of inertia to overcome but again, minute.

Braking pedal feel is awesome. First time I stomped on Porsche brakes and now I know what's all the rave about. Not a mm of slack and very progressive. The XXL power of the S brakes must be even better though, testing it with a more aggressive stop, ultimate braking power was just slightly missing near the limit.
I go to grips with pedal placement really fast and Heel'n'toe was a breeze, with Sport Chrono on throttle blips are razor sharp and fast, huge fun.

Now, the engine... sound is amazing, it's an aural delight, owling though the rev range to the spine tingling 7K redline. It's really a crucial part of the experience for me and it delivered 100% audio wise.
The big down-side for me was however power and power delivery. Now, I'm first and foremost looking for the superior driving experience and handling is at the top of my priorities but the engine as to deliver a minimum of fireworks. The 2.7 felt really flat, I just felt a slight push at the initial part of the rev-range, right at 3K, above that it was just totally flat and linear, no push at all in the back until 7k limit. And by this I mean zero. Just for perspective I drove my beloved Mini Cooper S, a feisty but modest stock 170hp hatch, and in comparison the power delivery feels stronger! In the Mini I feel a push when I kick down on the first 4 gears. I know the numbers don't lie, regular Cayman is faster, but even being about 200 kgs heavier I expected it to be a little bit stronger acceleration wise. The car was just out of break-in' mileage so maybe that had something to do with it?

One thing I've got serious doubts about is the short-shifter. Shifting feel is sporty but not rifle-bolt precise as a Honda S2000 might be. I found it enjoyable and with good feel but not up to the standards of the handling and brakes. I later sat on a showroom S with a regular "long" gearbox and it actually felt more precise and less notchy/cluncky but of course it wasn’t the same cause I didn't drive that car, just shifted through.
I'm in serious doubts about this one.

Now for PASM and Sport Chrono, I played with it a bit, the difference between the two is noticeable but not massive. I was expecting the car to turn rock-hard with sport on (a plus for me, the stiffer the better), but it just tenses up like 2 notches, from 8 to 10. Having said that even an hour long test drive isn't enough to really test this so just first impressions. Car felt taut but very solid, no crashes on bumps. PASM is definitely on my options list though.

One other option I'm considering is the PSE, there are just a few comments on this from the searches I've made, so I think I'll open a separate post for this. If the aural delights are even better I might fork-out!

As for the experience, lest not some of my comments fool you, I actually got misty-eyed half way trough my drive such was the pleasure and joy I was having being behind the wheel!

The only big question mark remaining is if the engine of The Cayman S is going to be enough to deliver that additional fireworks that I found so lacking in the 2.7. Remember that I'm coming from a small hot-hatch not a Viper so my expectations are not that high! I also believe the brakes of the S will feel that extra bit stronger.

Maybe people who drove both cars can comment a bit about this (yes, I've also read other posts :-).

Tomorrow I will be test driving a Lotus Exige S 240, having already driven an Elise I'll let you know how it turns out.

That drive in the Cayman really left an impression, I feel the Croc winning my heart :-)